Dragon Ball Z: The Garden
by Nickyjoet
Summary: Training under the tutelage of Whis has not been easy for Son Goku and Vegeta, but when the god-like man strands them in a large room only known as "the Garden", Goku and Vegeta will find themselves fighting to survive and struggling to cope with their situation.
1. Chapter 1

**Dragon Ball Z: The Garden**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey! It's me again! I've been away for quite a while as my interest in writing fan-fictions has waned. But, very recently, I have been wanting to write a story about Goku and Vegeta, a more character driven story than battle driven as the series is known for. There will be action and fighting, of course, but it's mostly about Goku and Vegeta.**

 **Before you start reading, I would like to say first that this story is not a romance and I have no intention of hinting at romance or anything of the sort. I'm trying to write this as true to Dragon Ball Z as I can.**

1

"You may remove the blindfolds," the always soft, ever so lighthearted voice of the blue-skinned man said.

With a slight hesitance, the two men removed the cloth from around their heads. They were met with pure blackness.

"What the hell am I supposed to be looking at?" one of the men said, his voice gruff and impatient.

"Give me just a moment, I needed to make sure neither of you were peeking."

There was a soft, echoing tap, and the area brightened to reveal miles and miles of rolling hills, a lush forest, a large body of water, and a large mountain area, but as the two men looked around, they realized they were in a room. It smelled like the outdoors, looked like the outdoors, but with a look behind them at the flat, painted wall, it was very clear they were standing in a room.

One of the men, the one with the gruff voice looked up at his teacher, the blue-skinned man with long white hair sticking straight up off of his head, styled to a point that curved back slightly. "What is this place?"

"I call it the Garden, though we do not grow produce here, it is merely for training." He swept his arm out slowly toward the vastness of the room, "Everything you see before you is very real, the soil is good for planting, the trees are good for lumber, and the water is clean enough to drink and is home to many varieties of fish. There are various animals that roam about the Garden, some large, some small."

"Are we going to train here?" the other man said, his wide, innocent eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Absolutely." The blue man smiled.

"Well, what's the deal, Whis?" the gruff man snapped, "What's the catch behind the room?"

Whis merely continued to smile, quickly spinning around, his lavish, magenta gown swaying, "You must find that out on your own. I will be back shortly." With that he exited through the door, and as soon as it closed behind him, the door vanished.

"I don't like these games."

"Aw, come on, Vegeta," Goku said, his friendly, optimistic tone sincere, "This'll be fun."

Vegeta snorted, "I don't care about fun. I came here to train, not to play games with you." He started to walk toward the forest in the distance.

"Training _is_ fun, though." The younger saiyan said as he hooked his thumbs into the blue belt tied around his waist.

"Maybe to you, but I take training seriously."

Goku began to follow Vegeta in a casual stride, thumbs hooked into his belt as his smile never faltered, "I take it seriously too, but I can also have fun with it."

The saiyan prince mostly ignored him; he crossed his arms over his chest, hands tensing against his arms. He looked up at the large glowing spot on the ceiling which lit the room up.

"So, Kakarrot, what do you think the gimmick is behind this room?"

"Gimmick? I don't know, everything seems all right," Goku looked around curiously, peering at the painted walls with a measure of unease, "Except for the walls."

"We should build a shelter," the older saiyan said.

"Shelter? For what?"

Vegeta grumbled to himself, "We have no idea what this room is or what it is capable of. We need to be prepared."

"But Whis said he'd be back soon."

The saiyan prince whipped around, letting out a frustrated roar, "Can you not be a damn idiot for three seconds? We're here to train! He has no intention of returning until he feels like we've accomplished something." He turned back around, letting out a sigh before continuing his walk toward the forest.

"Oh," Goku said with a hesitant understanding in his voice, "that makes sense."

Vegeta sighed again impatiently, his voice was low, but clear enough that Goku could hear, "I've been beaten, tortured and killed, but being trapped in here with you is cruel."

The younger saiyan merely smirked as he followed his friend toward the forest.

As the two reached the forest, the glowing orb in the sky began to dim, simulating the orange hue of sunset. It wasn't an ideal level of visibility, but they would have to make do.

With a heavy grunt of building frustration, Vegeta leapt up and kicked the trunk of a tree just hard enough to uproot it and send it toppling over. That tree crashed into another tree, knocking it over in a domino effect, toppling over another tree and another. With one kick he had felled four trees in total. With a slight smirk, he floated down onto the first tree and walked along the fallen trunk, inspecting his work.

He walked at an angle, as each tree was caught on the next, leaving it resting diagonally over the others. The trees looked like the kind of trees one would find on earth, oaks specifically, which made Vegeta curious if perhaps oak was a common species of tree in the universe, or if Whis just happened to model these trees after oaks after his visit to earth. Such thoughts were unimportant, though, and he returned to the task at hand.

He leapt off the trunk of the first tree and stood on the ground, judging the trees height by his eyesight alone. He dragged his gloved hand over the bark and patted a spot a third of the way over the trunk. Vegeta lifted his hand up high, pulling quite a bit of power into it before bringing it down in a chop. The wood cracked cleanly down to the other side, wood and bark splintered as Vegeta's hand drove down into it and out the other side, successfully chopping a third off of the trunk. With a dull thud, the lumber hit the ground.

Vegeta bent down to pick it up, but something caught his attention, his eyebrow twitched in irritation. He stood up and looked behind himself. Goku stood there, thumbs still hooked in his belt, an innocently confused look caught on his face.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Vegeta asked, his voice trembling with rage, "It's sunset, we need to act while there is still light."

"I still don't understand why we need a shelter," Goku said with a shrug, "I've spent a lot of time sleeping outside without a house or anything."

The saiyan prince had to push back the urge to throttle the younger saiyan, and though his voice still dripped with irritation, he explained, "Whis is unpredictable, therefore this room is unpredictable. I can sleep outside just as well as you can, Kakarrot, but we need to be smart about this, which, I know, is hard for you to do." Vegeta whipped back around and extended two fingers toward the branches and leaves, with fast, jerking movements he released beam after beam of energy from his finger tips, each perfectly severed branches from the trunk of the tree, leaving it bare, "So if I were you, I would start knocking trees down."

As soon as Vegeta's sentence ended he heard a loud thud, followed by a score of trees being uprooted. The saiyan prince sent a glance over his shoulder to see at least twenty trees toppled over one another with Goku floating above them triumphantly.

Vegeta let out a frustrated growl before returning to his work.

Well into the simulated night, Vegeta and Goku had erected a rather crude wooden shelter. They had removed quite a number of trees and were left with a large pile of wood that they chopped down into smaller logs for a fire, and with all the branches and leaves they had accumulated, they had plenty of tinder.

Vegeta gathered the branches and leaves together in a large pile next to the house, right beside another pile of firewood. He took an armful of tinder and placed them in a pit he made within the crater of one of the uprooted trees. He placed the wood up around it in a conical shape and blasted the kindling with a minimal amount of energy to light it. Within minutes they had a roaring fire outside of their shelter.

The saiyan prince sat down by the fire, keeping warm in the surprisingly cool night. The fire whipped about in the artificial wind. It made Vegeta growl in frustration.

 _Wind in a damned room! None of this feels right, and surely Kakarrot and I are being watched by Whis._ Vegeta thought to himself, glaring into the roaring flame that cast an orange glow over his body. _I feel like a toy in a giant playset._ He peered back at the open entrance to the cabin, seeing Goku lying on a large pile of leaves as he slept. _And Kakarrot and I are the dolls._ The saiyan prince turned around once more to face the fire as another gust blew in, his tall, spiked hair whipping in the wind. _How am I going to survive this hell?_

Simulated daylight began to creep through the cracks of the wooden walls of their crude cabin, and both saiyans lay asleep at opposite sides of the structure on piles of leaves. Goku snored loudly, while Vegeta slept soundly in a wary slumber. Even as he slept his guard was up, his senses tuned to his surroundings, any abnormal movement, sound or energy beyond the walls of their cabin would wake him. So when the cabin rattled in response to a far off explosion, the saiyan prince was up, eyes opening quickly.

He was standing within a second, and in another he was at the "door". He grabbed the large, flat barrier of wood and tossed it aside. The saiyan felt another explosion to his right, closer this time. Vegeta looked over at Goku and growled when he saw the younger saiyan still slept. Rolling his eyes, Vegeta darted through the forest at a blinding speed, dodging trees expertly until he broke the tree line and stood on the rolling plains.

Floating in the air was a creature that looked almost man-like if it weren't for its oversized claws and its bug eyes and slack jaw. Its vomit-green skin added to the already macabre appearance of the creature. It cocked its head as it noticed Vegeta.

"I didn't think there'd be anyone else here," it said without moving its jaw, the voice echoing and eerily soft, "I just got here a bit ago." Its hand reached out to the side and fired off a blast of energy. The bolt slammed into the ground, creating another explosion.

Vegeta noticed the other two craters in the plains and looked back up at the ghoul. He snarled, _this is ridiculous_ , he thought, _is it some sort of apparition? No_ , he carefully examined the creature, _I can sense its energy. It's definitely real._

"Are you just going to stand there?" the creature asked.

With a growl, Vegeta blasted into the sky at it. He drew back one fist and threw it forward as he neared the creature. His fist only hit air as the creature dodged away in a fluid motion.

"Attempting to attack me was a mistake," it said coolly as it lifted up a clawed, gnarled hand.

Vegeta grimaced and jerked toward the creature to attack, but a bolt of energy fired from the creature's hand and blasted into him, sending him careening into the ground with an explosion of hot ki.

"Now I won't stop until I've killed you," it said and bowed its head toward Vegeta before it rocketed downward at him.

The smoke from the ki blast enveloped Vegeta, but he felt the creature coming at him. He threw himself from the crater just before it hit. The ground exploded with a shower of dirt as the creature hit. Vegeta stood, his grey suit and white armor stained from the dirt, he looked toward the crater, sensing the creature climbing out. It stared at him as it clambered out of the depression in the earth.

"You are impressively fast," it said as it stood straight, as straight as its decrepit form could, "However, your fighting skills are lacking."

Vegeta snickered, "I'm merely testing you out. I don't want to kill you right away." The smirk on his face disappeared and he stood a little straighter. "You want me to show you my power?"

"Yes." The creature replied immediately.

With a roar of power, Vegeta's form became enveloped in golden flame, his black eyes changed color to green and his hair, including his eyebrows faded from jet black to gold. The transformation was immediate; after all, he'd been a super saiyan for years now. The golden flames around him died down and he stood, facing the creature, a smug look on his face.

"I don't know what you are, or where you came from," the saiyan prince said, "I could be talking to a convincing apparition or some being that Whis summoned here for me to fight, but understand this: no one underestimates the power of a saiyan…" Vegeta rocketed forward in the blink of an eye, his fist rammed suddenly and very firmly into the ghoul's abdomen, "…Because it never ends well."

With those words leaving his lips he let forth a spray of energy that tore through the creature's body easily, separating its top half from its bottom half, destroying anything in between. It made not a sound as it fell to the ground in two halves. The saiyan prince looked down at it with a sneer, feeling the energy die down until there was nothing. With no warning, the creature faded from existence, much to Vegeta's irritation.

The saiyan prince sighed and his hair returned to its natural color, as did his eyes. He turned around and started toward the forest, reaching up with gloved hands to try his best to wipe away dirt that had been caked on to his armor. He walked into camp to see Goku sitting by the freshly lit fire. The younger saiyan looked up at him with a wave and a smile.

"Mornin' Vegeta," he said cheerily, "I knew you'd win. Whatever it was that you were fighting didn't have a lot of power."

Vegeta was far too annoyed already to care about Goku's remark, so he just sat down by the fire as well and stared into it.

The smell of meat came to the saiyan's nose and he looked over to see Goku holding a large, cooked leg chunk out to him. Vegeta stared at it and then looked to the younger saiyan.

"I found, like, three of these big pig monster things just over there," with his free hand he pointed off to the east, "So I hunted 'em and cooked 'em up, figured you'd might be hungry too."

Vegeta snickered, "While I was out fighting a real threat, you were out hunting. You truly are a low-class saiyan warrior." The prince reached over and grabbed the chunk of leg and tore into it with his teeth.

Whis sat on a large, lavish chair, one leg crossed over the other under his magenta gown. He held his staff out in front of him, the black bulb floating at the end of his staff glowed green and projected the image of Vegeta and Goku eating by the fire. He was thinking to himself, humming an improvised tune to no one. The godly figure watched as the two men bickered at one another, one a little bit more playful than the other. Whis just chuckled to himself and sent the image of the men away.

"Well then," he spoke softly, a playful tone in his voice, "Let's see how they last in harsh weather conditions."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well? What'd you think? Leave a review and tell me what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hello again. Chapter two is here. It's shorter than chapter one, but I don't plan to drag this story on for too long. Enjoy!**

2

A brisk wind brushed against the crude cabin, flowing through the cracks and whipping the leaves of Goku and Vegeta's beds. One of the leaves took a wide loop and smacked right into Goku's face. The saiyan woke up with a start, sitting up on his bed of leaves. He pulled the leaf from his face and yawned loudly, only then did he notice the chill air in the cabin. He rubbed his arms and stood up, heading to the makeshift door. He grabbed it and put it aside. Goku looked out and stumbled backward onto his rear when he saw the thick layer of snow that blocked his way.

"Snow…?" he asked aloud, standing back up. He took a few steps forward and plunged a finger into the white, packed snow. He shivered, "It was warm yesterday… This doesn't make sense."

Son Goku yanked his finger out of the snow and instead extended his palm toward it. He sent a blast of energy forward, melting the snow away nearly instantaneously, leaving a nice, slick pathway away from their cabin to where the snow height was far more manageable. He turned and grabbed the door and shifted it back into place as he made his way through the snowy pathway he had created.

He continued to rub his arms, teeth beginning to chatter as he looked around. "Gotta find… An animal of some kind… Need a coat." Goku spoke aloud to himself.

As he walked he heard the loud howl of some unknown animal or beast off to his right in the distance. Without a second thought, Goku headed that way, running quickly between trees until he came to a halt before a hulking monster with shaggy white fur. It looked much akin to an ape, but its skin was blue and its eyes were pure black as it roared out in anger.

"Wowee, you're a big guy, huh?" Goku asked the creature, smiling.

The monster looked down at him with a snarl and it threw a hand forward, but instead of energy, it shot forward a gust of ice cold wind in a visible spiral.

Goku, too surprised by the attack to dodge, got blown back into a drift of snow in a harsh spray of white powder. The saiyan shivered and rose up from the snow only to be blown back further by the powerful gusts of wind the creature could summon. It was so strong that Son Goku crashed through a tree, wood splintering as he crashed into the ground with another spray of snow as the tree toppled over. He stood up quickly this time, his eyebrows lowering.

"All right, time to get serious!" he launched forward quickly, rocketing at the creature.

The ape-beast howled and sent another gust of wind at Goku. The saiyan felt the ice cold wind whipping around him, but his flight never faltered. The beast then brought his other hand close and the wind grew far more intense. Snow from the immediate area was displaced, showing the grass beneath. The wind was so harsh that Goku's flight was halted and he was blown back powerfully.

A few more trees were felled and splintered as Goku crashed through them until he came to a rolling halt in the snow many yards back. Snow clung to his skin and his orange gi as he slowly pulled himself to a stand.

"This is insane," he breathed out a puff of steam, "I can't be struggling with this thing."

The dull thuds of the creature's approach shook snow from the trees, and shook the ground. Goku wasn't worried; he was merely disappointed that his power at his current level couldn't stand up against the beast. With a sigh, the snow on Goku's clothes melted away as yellow flame engulfed him. His wild, black hair rose up and turned golden and his friendly eyes became intense as his dark colored iris turned green.

He saw the creature coming through the trees, growling as it saw its prey, but Goku acted quickly and darted forward. The creature did not have time to attack as Goku sent a powerful elbow into the creature's gut, practically destroying its insides. The creature slowly slumped over the saiyan and Goku dropped it to the ground with a thud.

He looked the creature over, "Well… That fur of yours will make a nice coat."

Goku bent down to begin to remove the creature's fur, but he was hit with another blast of cold from behind, sending him flying forward through the air. With a confused yelp, Goku stopped himself midflight and turned about. His green eyes widened as I looked upon a troop of seven ape monsters.

A slightly worried smirk came to his lips then, "Aw, c'mon… Really?"

Goku slowly descended until he was knee deep in snow. He looked upon the growling, angry monsters, one of them howling as it looked down at their dead comrade.

The saiyan looked at them. He frowned and took a step forward, "Hey, I'm sorry, but he attacked first."

All seven of the beasts roared in reply, each of them lifting their hands, each firing a strong blast of cold wind that uprooted trees and sent snow flying. It was strong enough to send the super saiyan Goku backward, until he hit the ground hard out in the snowy plains.

He stood up, taking in a breath. He grunted and stared at the forest as the seven beasts leaped out onto the plains. "O-of course you probably can't understand a word I'm saying. But I'm sorry anyway…!"

He bent down into a crouch, bringing his hands down to his right side, his torso turned toward the right as well. He looked straight ahead at the creatures as blue energy built up between his hands.

"Ka… Me…" Goku started to chant.

The creatures growled and moved forward toward him.

"Ha… Me…" Goku continued.

The creatures bent down, ready to leap upward away from his oncoming attack.

"H-" Goku began to finish his chant, but he was stopped as a large foot crashed down on top of him, pressing him to the ground.

The creatures all hollered out in triumph as the largest, tallest of them had vanquished their foe! But their leader's foot began to quiver and shake, lifting up against its will.

From underfoot, Goku appeared, lifting the large creature's foot off of him. He was stained from the frozen dirt beneath the snow, and he looked utterly annoyed.

"That wasn't fair!" He tossed the creature onto its back with a harsh push upward. The saiyan lifted off the ground and into the air. With a quick movement Goku came down, kneeing the large creature in the gut, doing the same kind of damage he had done to the creature in the forest.

With a gurgle of pain the life in the leader beast's eyes left it.

Goku flipped backward and landed at the beast's feet. He then turned his green-eyed stare at the seven ape monsters at his back.

Seeing their leader dead at the hands of the saiyan had the creatures unsure if they should continue to fight or not, but one look at the cold stare of the super saiyan's green eyes had the large, shaggy beasts running toward the mountains, howling in panic.

Son Goku let out a sigh, his body relaxing as his hair dropped back down to the messy, black mop he was used to.

"I'm impressed, Kakarrot, I didn't think you could do something like that."

Goku turned back around to see Vegeta standing at the large, dead creature's head.

"What're you talking about?" the younger saiyan asked.

"You killed those poor creatures' leader without much thought," Vegeta smirked, "You knew what you had to do, and you did it."

Goku sent Vegeta a slight glare, "I did. I spared their lives, though. If it had been you, you wouldn't have let them get far."

The saiyan prince's smirk widened until it was a smile, "Maybe. But that's just who I am. I like being thorough." He grabbed the dead beast by the neck, grabbing at skin as he lifted it into the air as he started to fly off toward the forest, "Come on, let's get him back to the cabin with the other one."

Goku hesitantly followed, quickly taking off to fly after Vegeta.

The two saiyans had cleared the snow from the front of their wooden hut and built an even bigger fire pit in which they had the meat from the monsters cooking. The two of them were inside, stringing up the larger beast's fur on the walls to block the cool air from squeezing in through the cracks. They had even used some of the excess fur to create crude mattresses filled with their piles of leaves.

Goku finished with the wall covering and nodded, "There we go. No wind'll be getting through this."

Vegeta looked down the coats Goku had fashioned with a scoff, "That looks like Bulma's winter coat. Do I have to wear it?"

The younger saiyan walked over and picked his up, sliding the shaggy thing on with a grin, "Nah, you don't have to. But you're gonna be pretty cold if you don't."

With a growl, Vegeta picked his coat up and slipped it on. He looked down at himself growling again in frustration, "I look like a damn fool!"

"Yeah, but you're warm, aren't you?" Goku laughed, wagging a finger the prince's way.

The saiyan prince sent a death glare at the younger saiyan, which made Goku promptly look away and wander over to plop on his bed with the audible crunch of leaves.

Vegeta cleared his throat and looked at his own bed, seeing the shaggy surface that matched the coat he currently wore, "I suppose the cold is a bit more bearable with this wretched thing on. And using the rest of the fur to make more comfortable beds and insulation for our cabin were good ideas."

Goku blinked his eyes twice, a look of disbelief on his face. A big smile crawled across his face and he looked over at Vegeta, who was facing away from him at his bed. "Did you just say something nice to me?" Goku let out a laugh, "Bulma isn't going to believe this!"

Vegeta spun around, pointing a finger at Goku accusingly, his eyes bloodshot and wide with rage, "You couldn't just take the compliment, could you?" he roared, "You just had to make some stupid wisecrack, didn't you?"

Goku just laughed hysterically, falling back onto his bed as he kicked his feet in pure joy.

Whis watched the two saiyans with a smile on his purple lips.

"For all that bickering the two of them do, they sure are entertaining," he said to himself as he watched the saiyan prince shaking the laughing Goku by his shoulders, "Despite their rivalry, the two of them get along far better than the both of them are willing to admit."

Whis studied the insulated walls of the cabin, the saiyans' coats and their beds, "…It was rather smart thinking on Goku's part to warm up for the harsh winter I've sent them, perhaps I'll let the winter linger a tad longer than I had planned… Instead I'll send a different challenge their way." A gleefully wicked smile appeared on Whis' face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Don't get used to chapters coming out as quickly as I got this one out, hehe. I got some nice feedback and had some ideas rolling around in my head. Thanks for the reviews!**

 **Also, I'm having trouble with the lack of paragraph breaks in my stories once I've uploaded them. I hope the text I put between paragraphs shows up and isn't too distracting!**

 **I apologize to those who may have been expecting chapter 4 out so soon, this month has been pretty damn hectic! I wanted to have it out by Christmas, but I've been busy working on other projects and dealing with stress and all that. I still hope to have it out soon, but no promises, by the latest, I think chapter 4 will be out in January.**

3

The days were cold, but the nights were colder as the two saiyans readied for bed. With a fur blanket pulled tightly about them, they slept soundly as the wind howled outside; luckily the insulated walls let none of the draft in. With both of the saiyans dreaming separate dreams, the artificial sunlight began to appear.

Goku was the first to wake up, and he did so slowly. Rising up out of his bed, he rubbed his eyes of sleep, but something caught his attention about his hand. In the dim light inside the cabin, he looked down at his gloved hand. It was familiar looking. He looked at his arm and noticed the tight, grey under suit. He reached over with his other hand to pinch at the material. He hadn't been wearing this before. As his grogginess left him, he realized he seemed to be on the opposite side of the cabin. He looked over toward the opposing wall and saw his body sleeping on the furred bed of leaves.

"What the…" Goku started to exclaim, but then realization hit him fully: the white gloves and the grey under suit. He slapped his hands to his chest and heard the dull thud of his palms slapping against armor. He looked down and noticed the white battle plate that Vegeta had been wearing this entire time.

Son Goku leapt up and screamed, "I'm Vegeta!" even his voice was Vegeta's! He stood on his mattress, his hands sliding up through the spiked hair that resembled black flame and then over his angular face.

The other saiyan stirred awake with a grunt of annoyance, a grunt that sounded like Goku did it, which was quite uncommon.

"Kakarrot, what the hell are you…" the other saiyan said as he rose up out of bed, but hearing the sound of his voice and then seeing himself on the other side of the room frantically running his fingers through his hair had him utterly confused. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

Goku, in Vegeta's body, looked over at Vegeta, in Goku's body, "…V-Vegeta? We're in each other's bodies! How did this happen?"

Vegeta stood up and looked down at the orange gi he wore, "How the hell should I know?" he looked up at Goku, then, "My suspicion is that it is Whis messing with us."

"Is there anything he _can't_ do?"

Vegeta merely shrugged and started toward the door. He pulled the makeshift door out of the way and went outside into the cold.

"Vegeta," Goku called after him, "Where are you going? Don't you want to figure out how to reverse this?"

The saiyan prince looked back at him, the normally friendly visage of Goku had morphed to the gruff look of the saiyan that currently resided in the younger saiyan's body, "As much as I hate being in your body, we're like this for a reason. So if I have to stomach being trapped in your body, I'd rather go somewhere else and clear my head."

Goku watched as Vegeta turned around abruptly and blasted off into the sky until he disappeared out of view. He placed his gloved hands on his hips, "Well, I guess I should get some training in." He exited the cabin and flew off to the north of the forest.

He ended up in the mountains where it was much colder. He hadn't bothered with a coat; after all, training would warm him up significantly. Goku looked down at his hands and grimaced slightly. _The power feels different_ , he thought, _it's not mine. Except when me and that Ginyu guy switched bodies, it was weirder, I could barely control his body. Vegeta's body feels a bit more familiar. Maybe it's because we're both saiyans._

Goku fired up to super saiyan quickly, naturally. It was a familiar feeling to him, and yet it was completely different. There was a different feeling in the way Vegeta's body charged up to super saiyan, there was a desire in him to be stronger, stronger than anybody. That feeling, too, was familiar to Goku, but Goku's attitude about it was a little different. The younger saiyan wanted to be the best, and somewhere inside, he knew he _could_ do it. Whereas Vegeta's desire was seemingly stemmed from some insecurity about being outdone by someone who was below him.

Son Goku's knees buckled and he dropped to them as a sudden pain came over him, and a voice, his subconscious, screamed at him, but it wasn't _his_ subconscious. It was Vegeta's.

 _How? How did he beat me? He's a low-class saiyan warrior and I am a_ prince _! How could he have mustered the strength to damage me as much as he did? He and his idiotic earthling friends! I'll kill them! I'll get stronger and I'll kill them!_

Goku opened his eyes, sweat dribbled down his face. These feelings of rage, of desperation were new to him. Sure he'd felt rage before, when Freeza had killed Krillin in cold blood on Namek, Goku had felt enough pure rage to ascend to super saiyan. But the rage he felt now was targeted at himself, because he wasn't strong enough, because he was the lesser warrior. He realized he was feeling what Vegeta felt.

Another bolt of pain struck him.

 _A super saiyan? How could he become a super saiyan, when I, the prince, have not attained it? It doesn't make sense!_

Goku dug his fingers in the snow, hunched over on his hands and knees now as Vegeta's subconscious continued to scream at him. His super saiyan state flickered away as the screams kept pummeling him, each one more difficult to bear, each one reliving Vegeta's failure's from past to present.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Vegeta had fired up to super saiyan with no problem as well. Goku's body was a bit taller, a bit bulkier than the saiyan prince was used to, but the younger saiyan moved well. The power Vegeta felt was not entirely different from his own power, it was almost even, but the reality was that the slight difference in power was enough to put Goku leagues beyond his own abilities.

Vegeta threw kick after kick, punch after punch, putting as much power into them as he could. The loud cracks and booms of the air from the powerful blows filled his body with hatred for the man whose body he currently resided in. He lowered to the ground, on a rocky island out in the middle of the body of water they had seen as they entered the room. He looked down at his hands.

"Kakarrot," he growled, "Always one step ahead of me. I can finally, truly feel the power you possess, and how far behind I am. This slight gap in our strength will never be filled. You'll always pull ahead, you-"

Vegeta was suddenly struck to his knees as a bolt of pain came over him. He heard a voice, Goku's voice, in his head, talking.

 _Krillin… Don't kill him. I… I know he's dangerous. But please let him go. I don't know how to say it… But when I saw him about to die I thought: what a waste… I trained under King Kai, I thought I'd hit the peak of my power, but Vegeta was so far above me. It scared me… Shocked me!_

 _But somewhere inside of me, I was… Happy… I was thrilled to be fighting such power! I… Heh… I guess it's my saiyan blood. It's stupid. But next time, I swear I'm gonna surpass him. Gonna beat him._

Vegeta stared out at the water as Goku's voice trailed off. The saiyan prince had almost forgotten about that day so long ago. Goku had spared him, because even though he had won, he knew that Vegeta was more powerful and if he had died, Goku couldn't test his power again. Goku didn't want to kill Vegeta, he wanted to fight him again and again until he got better, and there was no desire to kill the saiyan prince at all, only the desire to get better. That's what drove Goku.

The saiyan prince tuned his senses to the feeling of energy and felt Goku off in the mountains. He took to the air and rocketed toward the mountains.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Goku wiped sweat from his brow as the subconscious thoughts subsided. He'd heard most of Vegeta's insecurities. He felt dirty; like he'd heard things he should not have heard. He'd known that Vegeta did not like that he had pulled so far ahead, but to think that Vegeta was angry at himself for not having the power to surpass him? Goku had no idea.

The younger saiyan was startled when he saw a familiar figure land before him. He looked up at Vegeta, seeing his own gruff face staring back at him. He lifted to a stand. Goku didn't know what to say. Should he say anything? Luckily, he didn't have to.

"Kakarrot," the saiyan prince said, folding his arms over his chest, "Let's fight. Right now."

Goku stared at him curiously, "But we're..."

"I know. It'll be interesting. So come on!" he growled and crouched into a fighting stance, "Come at me!"

Goku felt a thrill of excitement come over him. He crouched down as well, ready to fight. He scanned Vegeta's stance, looking for openings. Goku became immediately aware that Vegeta was not used to being so tall, so his arm level was not quite where it should be, there was a small opening at his abdomen that he could take advantage of. So he did so.

With blinding speed, Goku came forward, throwing a punch straight for Vegeta's gut, but he connected with air as the older saiyan dodged out of the way. He looked to the side, seeing Vegeta readying a kick, but Goku was ready for it. The kick was aimed at his gut as he moved in front of his opponent, but he kicked his back legs up, flipping forward, Vegeta's kick missing him by a hair's length. But the older saiyan was fast and he turned in the air and sent his other leg out in a snap kick that found Goku's gut anyway, sending the younger saiyan flying backward into the face of the mountain.

The rock crumbled and fell as Goku hit the ground, burying him with rubble. He held his stomach, struggling for a breath of air. It was the most real pain he'd ever felt in his life, being kicked with the power he possessed with the ferocity of Vegeta behind it. He caught his breath and began to stand up, slowly at first, but when he felt an energy blast coming right for him. He launched out of the rubble, the beam of energy passing just under him to shatter the rock further, sending dust and debris flying. He felt Vegeta above him and he quickly whipped around to kick him in the face. The blow connected and the older saiyan was blown even further up into the air.

The saiyan prince chuckled, his lip bleeding from the kick. He wiped the blood away and stared down at Goku, "I've got to say, Kakarrot, this power feels good. Now I know why you're always so cheerful."

Goku stared up at him and frowned, "Lots of stuff makes me happy, not just my power."

The younger saiyan went to attack again, but hesitated as Vegeta began to power up. Vegeta roared as blue energy began to flicker around him, his voice morphed and echoed as from head to toe he was engulfed in blue flame. Then the echo left and he stood there, in Goku's body, his eyes were blue, his hair was blue. He had transformed into the super saiyan god blue form.

"Come on, Kakarrot. Unleash the power of the god and let's fight for real."

Goku felt nervous and excited all at the same time, it was a feeling he had felt when he and Vegeta had fought for the first time. With a roar of his own, he powered up, and much like Vegeta, he became engulfed in azure flame until his eyes and hair were blue. The power was just as intense as it was when he was in his own body, but looking upon that body, with the saiyan prince's smirk planted on that face, had Goku a bit nervous.

He was strong, his body, that is, he'd trained hard nearly every day of his life. And that kick… It had hurt. Perhaps, it was Vegeta's insecurities flooding through him, or a misunderstanding of those insecurities. With a frustrated growl, he pushed the thoughts aside. He wasn't Vegeta! He was Son Goku!

The younger saiyan came at Vegeta quickly, a series of punches aimed right at the other saiyan's face. Vegeta's head bobbed this way and that, dodging the punches, but he was having some difficulty. One wrong move and- He was punched square in the nose then, and he lurched backward, slapping a hand to his face, cradling his now bleeding nose. He bent forwards once more to look at Goku with a confused stare, but he had to dodge quickly to the side as the younger saiyan was approaching with a wide front kick.

Vegeta growled and pulled a hand away from his nose as he launched at Goku and threw a punch in, landing the blow into his opponent's cheek. Goku recovered a lot quicker than before and a sent a kick in, finding Vegeta's side. That's how it went for a few minutes, each of them exchanging blow after blow until they leapt back away from each other.

They looked at each other, each of them bruised and bleeding here or there. They studied each other, carefully examining what the other might do next. But it seemed that neither was going to give off any hints. Astoundingly, the two of them, at the exact same time, launched at each other. There were openings aplenty on either side; it was only a matter of who got the first hit in.

Goku's fist slipped in first, slamming directly into Vegeta's stomach. The older saiyan gagged out in pain, but regained himself enough to pull back and then slide upward to send a flying knee directly into Goku's chin.

The younger saiyan arced backward, but as he descended backward, he brought his hands down to his hip, body turning as he began to chant quickly.

"Ka Me Ha Me…!"

Vegeta grimaced, "No you don't!" he lunged at Goku.

But Goku was faster, throwing his arms out to Vegeta, wrists pressed together, hands outstretched as he let out a loud "Ha!" the Kamehameha's blue energy hit Vegeta squarely, blasting the older saiyan back.

The prince roared as he forced his hands in front of the beam, catching it with a slight struggle. As he went to push back against it, he was slammed into a cliff face. The rock cracked and crumbled around him as the beam drove him into the cliff. He pushed his feet flat against the rock and began to fight against the beam, his legs straightened out slowly as he pushed the Kamehameha. But as he fought against it, the beam ended, leaving his bare hands scorched slightly. He looked up to see Goku floating many yards away.

Goku soared at him, "This is it Vegeta! You're going down!" a hint of a smile was on his face as he rocketed at Vegeta.

The saiyan prince hardly had a chance to move before he felt an explosion at the back of his skull where Goku's fist met. The prince blacked out and hit the rocks below, his hair turning black once more, the azure fire surrounding him faded.

Goku looked down at his hands triumphantly, an amused sound escaping him. Then he let his exhaustion take over as he plummeted to the ground.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Whis watched the two unconscious saiyans through his staff. There was a slight smile on his lips. "What a wonderful discovery…" he tapped his staff to the stone floor of his "observatory" and watched as the saiyans' souls returned to their own bodies. "These two are very interesting. Had I known how fascinating they were in the first place, I would have agreed to train them without the promise of earth's delicacies. Though, that is a plus." He chuckled to himself.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Vegeta awoke, nearly frozen in the snow. He shivered and stood up; snow fell from his face and hair. He brushed the rest of the snow away and realized he was in his own body again when he saw the grey suit and white gloves. He was sore, he'd really done a number on himself while in Goku's body, and yet… He had still lost. That disheartened him again, frustrating him. Even in Goku's superior body, he was still unable to-

Vegeta's eyes went wide as he looked down at his hands and balled them into fists tightly and then unclenched them. Goku had still managed to win, even in a body that wasn't his own; in Vegeta's body. He thought about that for a long moment. How had Goku pulled that off? It wasn't the Kamehameha, he knew that. It _had_ weakened him, but he was wondering where Goku had pulled that power from, the power to beat him. Was it Goku's attitude that made him able to achieve greater things?

The saiyan prince got distracted when he heard the sound of snow crunching nearby. He looked over to see Goku standing, taking a staggering step forward, brushing snow from his gi.

The younger saiyan chuckled, "Heh… I guess we're back in our bodies… Ooh!" he flinched with pain, holding his side where a kick had landed, "I really kicked my own butt, huh?"

Vegeta snarled, but reminded himself that it had been his body that had done that damage. "Let's just get back to the cabin and rest." The saiyan said, "We can heal back there."

"Good idea." Goku said.

The two took to the sky, taking their sweet time as they headed back to the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Happy New Year everyone! I'm back! I'll try to get the next chapter out later this month rather than wait until next month. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!**

4

Whis had finally allowed the snow to go away after a few more days of intense winter conditions, and as soon as it became warm, and the snow melted away, the two saiyans were quick to get as far from the other as possible, both for their own reasons, of course. Goku merely wanted some alone time to train, whereas Vegeta just wanted to get as far away from the other saiyan as he could.

The saiyan prince found himself in the mountains, sitting on a rock as he stared out over the vast landscape of this large room. He had chosen to sit in the mountains for no particular reason, but as he regarded the rocky area around him, he noticed broken rock and scorch marks along cliff faces that surrounded him. It made him sneer. He'd likely had come here out of some subconscious need to see where he had been defeated, to drive him to get better. He'd lost to Kakarrot again, and this time, he was in Kakarrot's body! How had he lost? Vegeta had contemplated this before, right after he'd regained consciousness in his own body, but he hadn't really had the time to think about it long enough.

Goku had won in a body that wasn't his own. He had pulled some power from somewhere and had bested Vegeta. Goku was stronger, in his own body, but he had proven to be stronger still while in Vegeta's. The saiyan prince had to shake his head, and focus on calming his nerves before he went mad! He slipped off the rock and landed a few thirty feet down to begin casually walking through the mountainous region of the north.

He was strong, that much Vegeta knew, but Goku was always two steps ahead of him in power. It was bothersome, it always had been, that a low-class saiyan was stronger than he was. Even when the odds were stacked against Goku, he always managed to find a way to win. He was always so confident, and even when he wasn't he always knew that he'd win somehow. So in the end, he had confidence that things would work out. Confidence.

The saiyan prince stopped in his tracks at the sudden realization. Kakarrot always strove to be better, and while Vegeta did too, the low-class saiyan had the confidence that he _would_ get better. Vegeta only strived to be better than Goku, and he was afraid that Goku would continue to outdo him. The prince tensed up slightly, closing his eyes as he clenched his jaw in frustration. He lacked confidence. That's what his problem was, and he admitted it bitterly. When he lost, he beat himself up, compared himself to Goku, often times he'd admit he'd never be as strong. But even when Goku lost, even if the younger saiyan felt doubtful, he always came back around to knowing that somehow he would win, that he'd stand back up and be the victor next time.

The saiyan prince wanted to push his pride to the forefront, to deny there was a problem, but the more he thought about it, the more and more it made sense. But if he lacked confidence, how could he gain it? He started to remember something from a few years ago.

 _He and Trunks had been training in the gravity room while Bulma watched from outside. Vegeta would sling a slew of insults at Trunks for not being able to catch up and not being able to land a punch._

 _After training he had stepped out of the gravity room to be met with a glare from his wife._

 _"How do you expect him to improve if you keep tearing him down?" she reprimanded._

 _Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Please, the boy needs to know when he's not doing something right."_

 _"Sure, but I didn't hear you_ one _time tell him that he could do it, or that he was doing better each time? Throw in some positivity! Give him a pep talk!"_

 _"A pep talk?" Vegeta cackled, "I'll give him a pep talk when he earns it."_

 _So the next day, Vegeta unsurely looks at his son, his jaw rolling uncomfortably before he bent down to eye level, hands on his knees as he looked Trunks in the eyes. "You, uh, can do this! You've got what it takes! You can pull your power together and…"_

 _Trunks was staring at him in astounded confusion._

 _"Let's just start training…"_

Vegeta snapped back to the present, groaning only slightly. He swallowed his nerves and curled his hands into fists. His jaw rolled uncomfortably and he closed his eyes tight. He let out a few short breathes before he opened his mouth, throwing a fist forward.

"You can do this! You are the prince of saiyans!" his voice echoed through the mountains, "You have the power to get better! You _will_ get better! I… I believe…"

He stopped himself as he listened to the echo of his voice, hearing his pep talk being played back to him by the natural reverberation of the rocky surroundings. As his voice died off a soft wind blew through the area. Vegeta felt like a complete fool. He felt like he was making a complete jackass of himself.

"D-damn it." He growled, a light blush of embarrassment coming over his cheeks as he began walking once more. He had a lot more thinking to do.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

He lay in a pile of rubble and charred wood. He felt the heat of the red hot wood on his skin, but it was nothing compared to the utter pain he felt in his abdomen. He writhed under the rubble, holding his stomach as he growled and groaned in pain. The cabin was gone. He lay under what remained of the cabin. Something… Or someone, someone familiar attacked him. He hadn't expected it. His guard had been down. He paid for it, just like he had against Freeza just a few short months before. At least this time he wasn't on the verge of death, but Goku knew if he suffered another blow to his stomach like that again, he'd likely rupture something, and with no way of healing, with no senzu, he'd be in trouble.

He felt the familiar power just beyond the rubble; he heard footfalls coming closer and closer. Goku held his breath, if he moved even a little, if he shifted the rubble at all; he knew he'd be gone. He needed to stay hidden and keep his power suppressed until he could catch his foe by surprise.

"This power is quite… Different…" the voice of Cell was heard saying, "What did that blue fellow call it? Super saiyan god?" the foot falls got closer and suddenly stopped, "Though I can't physically transform like you lot, I can feel the power inside of me. I like it."

Goku moved his head just a slight so that he could peer through the break in the rubble. He saw the completed Cell standing above him, engulfed in a blue aura. It was insane. Cell had been dead for ten years! But with the mention of the "blue fellow", Goku knew Whis had sent him here. It was for training, that much Goku had figured out, but that blow had knocked the wind out of him, and one more would be fatal.

"Come on, Son Goku, come out of hiding," Cell said, his purple eyes scanning the area, "That blow to your stomach couldn't have killed you, it was a love tap. Fight me. Man to man. Let me get the satisfaction of killing you again."

Goku had to risk fighting him, but he needed to charge up to super saiyan god blue. Even then, would he have enough power to beat him? If Vegeta was here, they might have a chance…

Goku shook the thought away and began charging his power. He roared, which made Cell jump back away from the rubble, startled to find that Goku had been under his feet that whole time. The rubble blew away in an explosion of power and the saiyan lifted from the ground, his hair standing on end, glowing blue. He glared at Cell and quickly charged in; throwing a quick jab at the being's face. But Cell was quick and strong, grabbing Goku's hand before throwing him to the side with relative ease.

"There you are, ready to face me at full power?"

Goku stopped himself midflight and looked around at the area. It had been cleared of trees, likely from Cell's destructive energy. The saiyan stared at Cell and growled, "Before we get started, I hope you know that you've only been brought here to be a training dummy."

The being chuckled, "I don't care why I am here, all I know is that I'm going to kill you. And I'm going to enjoy doing so!" he rushed at Goku and the saiyan met him, both clashing with a fast series of unseen blows.

The two moved in a blur, each strike rattled the training area, and the shockwaves shattered nearby trees and created small craters. Punches and kicks glanced off of each other, and few blows slipped in through the opponents' defenses. The saiyan was going all out, it kept Cell on his toes, but he wasn't exactly struggling. The two were almost evenly matched, and if either of them let more than a few good hits, they would be doomed.

Cell flew backward very suddenly, weaving through trees and out of sight momentarily before he came rocketing back toward Goku in a roar of movement, kicking up dirt and uprooting trees. He slammed into Goku headfirst, but the saiyan's hands reached up to grab the protruding plates on Cell's head, attempting to fight him off as the two went flying.

Goku felt his back impact twenty trees, splintering and shattering them as they escaped the forest. The saiyan's clothes were badly torn and now he felt the open air on his back. He lifted his fist and began to bring it down hard on the slick black bulb that rested nestled between the organic head plates of his opponent. Cell paid it no mind as he ramped up his speed and grabbed Goku by his belt, letting out a loud roar before tugging Goku to the side, spinning him around, and with the momentum of speed and the spin, sent the saiyan rocketing into the mountains where rocks shattered in a large cloud of dust.

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Whis watched the whole thing with mild disappointment. He drummed his fingers over his knee as he watched the fight taking place around him as his staff projected the image. Goku had been taken by surprise, and here Whis had thought the saiyan had learned something from his fight with Freeza.

His foot bobbed anxiously as he sat on his floating staff. Goku was fighting alone again, and with Vegeta in the mountains, it seemed like it was going to stay that way until Cell threw Goku into that rocky region. Whis hoped the saiyans would put aside their pride and become the team they could so easily be.

"Whis!"

The feminine man quickly cocked his head to peer back over his shoulder to look at his master. "Hello, Lord Beerus."

The purple cat man scratched behind his tall ears lazily, wearing his white sleeping gown. His irritable yellow gaze was on Whis, "I've been searching for you everywhere. What are you doing?"

"I'm watching the saiyans. They're in the Garden."

"The Garden, you say?" Beerus asked as he came up to peer at the projected image of Cell hovering above the settling dust of the mountains. The destroyer god yawned and scratched under his chin with his claws, "Who is that? Doesn't look like one of the saiyans."

"This is a being known as Cell, he is made up of the cells of Goku's friends, as well as himself and Vegeta. Even Freeza and his father's cells are in the creature. He was created by some mad scientist on earth who had a grudge against Son Goku some time ago. Though the being was defeated by Goku's son Go-" Whis stopped himself as he noticed the bored look on Beerus' face. He blushed and looked back to the projected image, seeing Cell start to descend toward the mountains. "Anyway, I went and, um, 'borrowed' him from Earth's Hell and infused him with the blood of the current Son Goku. Now he is quite powerful, rivaling Goku in strength."

"Do you always break cosmic law while I'm asleep, Whis? Breaking someone out of Hell is a serious offense, you know." Beerus smirked, merely teasing Whis.

Whis chuckled playfully, "Only when it's beneficial to me or my students."

"Have the two saiyans decided to work together yet?"

Beerus' servant shook his head with disdain, closing his eyes gently, "Unfortunately, no. I keep trying to push them in the right direction, but they're both so stubborn." He opened his eyes, watching as Cell landed on a rock, "My hope is that they'll figure it out here."

 **-PARAGRAPH BREAK-**

Vegeta felt and heard the explosion of rocks and rubble and immediately turned to face it, only to be immediately enveloped in a cloud of dust. Cursing, the saiyan closed his eyes to shield them from the dust. He began to feel for power, but could sense nothing. He began to feel his way nimbly through the rocks and debris, boots slipping on loose gravel here and there.

He walked until the dust was nearly settled and he opened his eyes. Vegeta was barely able to make out much in the cloud of dust, but he could see someone standing in the near distance. He recognized the shape of the hair immediately and rushed over.

"Kakarrot! What the hell is going on?"

Goku peered over at him, his blue eyes intense. Vegeta could see the bruises and blood all over the other saiyan's body, and he was in his god blue form. It made Vegeta slightly nervous, and yet he saw the smile suddenly appear on Goku's face.

"You're not gonna believe me, but Cell is here."

"Cell? You've got to be kidding me." Vegeta rolled his eyes in irritation, crossing his arms. "First Freeza and now Cell?"

Goku chuckled heartily, but winced and groaned. "Yeah. But Cell is ridiculously strong. He's got the power of our super saiyan god blue forms. Whis must've had something to do with that."

"What? That's impossible!" Vegeta's eyes went wide.

"It's not that impossible. Remember during the Cell Games after he came back from self-destructing? He was complete again, but also had the aura of a super saiyan two. I'm guessing it's kinda like that."

Vegeta growled, "This is ridiculous." As the dust finally settled, Vegeta noticed the familiar villain standing on a large rock in the distance. He saw that brilliant blue aura and couldn't deny it looked similar to the god blue aura, never mind the fact he couldn't feel his energy.

"Vegeta. We have to fuse." Goku said seriously, his smile having vanished.

"No! Absolutely not!" Vegeta all but screamed, "I will never perform that ridiculous dance again!"

Goku sighed, "Fine, but we have to fight together, like Whis said."

"Together?" the saiyan prince scoffed, "I thought we agreed that we did things alone."

"Yeah, but I've thought about it. I can't fight Cell on my own, and neither can you."

"Is that so, Kakarrot?" the prince turned to face him, looking ready to fight _him_ instead. He powered up immediately to his super saiyan god blue form, "I'll show you that I can beat him!"

"Are you serious?" Goku stared at the older saiyan in disbelief, putting a hand on his head in frustration, "We can fight _after_ we've beaten Cell _together_! We're not fusing; we're just fighting as a team."

"A team." Vegeta said slowly. He'd been part of a team before. He remembered killing and annihilating planets while side by side with Nappa. He looked at Goku and felt a hatred that was no longer justified, and yet it was still there. He hated the thought of teaming up with this idiot. Vegeta was already shaming his race by even playing for the same side as this fool, and yet, deep down, he missed the camaraderie of fighting side by side with someone, especially another saiyan. He looked at Goku, noticing the younger saiyan's hand was held out.

Vegeta's brows lowered and he let out a stubborn grunt before taking Goku's hand firmly. They were going to fight as a team.


End file.
